Understanding the Pathophysiology of Migraine Pain

Launched by MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER · Jan 17, 2017

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial, titled "Understanding the Pathophysiology of Migraine Pain," aims to learn more about what causes migraine headaches. Migraines are very common, affecting millions of people and often causing severe, throbbing pain along with symptoms like nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. The study focuses on understanding how blood vessels in the head change during a migraine attack, which could help develop better treatments for those who struggle with migraines, especially those who have not found relief from usual medications.

To participate in this trial, individuals must have been diagnosed with migraines by a neurologist and experience frequent migraine attacks—at least twice a month. They should also be dealing with severe symptoms that don’t respond to standard treatments. Participants will undergo a procedure called angiography, which involves taking detailed images of blood vessels in real time. This will help researchers see how blood flow changes during a migraine. It's important to note that there are specific health conditions and medications that may prevent someone from joining the study, so interested individuals should talk with their doctor to see if they qualify.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Subjects with a documented diagnosis of migraine by a neurologist
• • Subjects refractory to standard migraine therapy with persistent severe, debilitating symptoms
• • Subjects without changes to their neurological exam within the preceding 6 months
• • Migraines at least twice a month
• • Migraines unique and distinguishable from other non-migraine headache pain
• • Subjects must sign a consent form for both angiography and for participation in this study, and must be willing to undergo angiography for the evaluation of their symptoms
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Subjects taking vasoactive drugs including epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, dobutamine, isoprenaline, dopexamine, milrinone, amrinon, levosimendan, glucagon, phenylephrine, metaraminol, ephedrine, vasopressin, digoxin, and levothyroxine
• • Subjects with underlying cardiac pathology including but not limited to coronary artery disease, heart attacks, or severe atherosclerosis,
• • Subjects with severe pulmonary disease requiring supplemental oxygen therapy
• • Subjects taking medications similar to nitroglycerin such as phosphodiesterase inhibitors
• • Subjects with contraindications to nitroglycerin or calcium channel blocker use
• • Subjects who have had coffee, tea, or alcohol in the 12 hours before the start of the angiogram
• • Subjects having other headache conditions or pain syndromes
• • Subjects with prior intracranial therapies or craniotomies for management of any intracranial lesions
• • Subjects in whom the angiography demonstrates severe vessel tortuosity or stenosis, vasospasm not responsive to medical therapy, or abnormal communication between intracranial and extracranial vessels either in the past or during the study procedure
• • Subjects who are not able to reliably report symptoms
• • Subjects who do not consent to participate
• • Subjects who are pregnant and children